Tweets

This was a good read!

Especially if you grew up playing Sierra games in the 80s and 90s.

(or just love code archeology)

https://lanceewing.github.io/blog/sierra/agi/sq2/2024/05/22/do-you-own-this-space-quest-2-disk.html

@ianlandsman @aarondfrancis 🤣 Your podcast is killing my workplace productivity.

This video describes how I emerged from that failure and was (eventually) able to bootstrap a successful SaaS company. It took a few steps to get there!

https://youtu.be/fBRDHyBoOk4

(It also has a bunch of my old clips and photos that I think you'll enjoy).

@calebporzio You’ve got a real attic! Like in the movies and storybooks!

3. Freedom and Flexibility:

As founders, we build businesses to give us more freedom. A Calm Company gives team members the flexibility to live well, pursue hobbies, exercise, take breaks, go on trips, and connect with family and friends.

2. Purpose:

Calm Companies have a strong sense of purpose: "What are we building this company for?" Generally, there's an internal purpose: "to improve the lives of the team," and an external purpose: "@ConvertKit is on a mission to help creators earn a living online."

“I’m a climate scientist. If the fracturing of our once stable climate doesn’t terrify you, then you don’t fully understand it.”

– @ProfBillMcGuire

@rails @laravelphp I got this idea while listening to @stympy & @heyjoshwood describe the launch of their new @honeybadgerapp "Insights" feature (on their podcast).

I thought: "Man, @TransistorFM just did a launch too. It would be cool for us to compare notes."

An example of the top-tier dev content @aarondfrancis has been producing.

364,000 views!!! 🤯

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6juZ8c_Nu8

@aarondfrancis WHAT!

You're literally one of the most talented content creators on the web right now.

Hiring you will be a big win for whoever is lucky enough to get you!!!

@levelsio @aarondfrancis @andrewculver Haha. @andrewculver and I do look alike.

We’re both Canadian; maybe we’re related? 🤔 https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/717099759236833280

I had a great conversation with @p_millerd about how bootstrapping helped Jon and me create a "calm company" where the product improves the customer's lives, and the company improves the lives of our team.

Listen on @ApplePodcasts, @Spotify, @OvercastFM:
https://lnk.to/73fDM7

What does customer demand look like?

It’s people *already in motion.*

They’re already searching for a solution.

They’re already trying to solve the problem.

@adamwathan But you don’t have to find a new customer for every sale (~97% of your previous month’s sales are already spoken for).

With SaaS, you have “prebuilt sales volume” every month.

You should definitely listen to the episode I did with @tylertringas and @ianlandsman, where we evaluate the idea/potential of "Once" (pay-once, on-prem software).

Available now on the @buildyoursaas feed:

https://lnk.to/7wNC3l

@levelsio Sometimes! The biggest risk is falling into a tree well.

(Don't look up "tree well rescue" videos if you're squeamish about skiing! 😬)

But riding in the trees is super fun.

Doing some boring accounting stuff right now and listening to the cheesiest techno.

@asmartbear 💯 I wrote a whole thread on this: https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1276611514850373632

Had some great after-work drinks and food at @ratiovernon tonight!

Love this piece from @davatron5000:

https://daverupert.com/2024/02/no-podcaster-don-t-cry/

@whereisjefe @TechCrunch Jan 2024 layoffs:

Microsoft - 1,900
Swigy - 400
Ebay - 1,000
SAP - 8,000
Brex - 282
Riot Games - 530
Wayfair - 1,650
Pixar - 1,300
Discord - 170
Amazon - 500-600
Twitch - 500
Unity - 1,800

@MikeSallese9 @TechCrunch Companies aggressively hired during the pandemic, thinking that the pandemic trends would persist.

They haven't, and so now they need to unload people.

@ianlandsman **Disclaimer:**

Please note that any endorsements or opinions expressed by Ian Landsman regarding Cloudflare or any other product are purely his personal views and should not be construed as investment advice, financial guidance, or an encouragement to buy or sell any…

Example: when I was working for a non-profit I had to do sales (fundraising), PR, marketing, public speaking, leadership, hiring, accounting, finance, customer service, web dev, and more.

Once I switched to the SaaS industry, those abilities gave me a lot of leverage.

@r00k Love this. I’m a big walker. I feel restless until I’ve gone out and walked.

@asmartbear @bruceclarkprof + What other options do they have?
+ What other competition for their time, attention, and dollars is there?

Some "bad ideas" are just good ideas distilled into short soundbites without context and improperly positioned as a general rule.

There are many trappings of success that don’t give you a better life (awards, accolades, large team, crazy growth, full calendar, lots of business travel, press mentions).

So many founders are engulfed in activities that make them miserable.

@jonbuda @TransistorFM @jsonperl @HelenRyles @joshuaanderton Over the past year, I've started thinking our work along two dimensions:

▪The product exists to make our customers’ lives better.

▪The company exists to make our team members' lives better.

These are meaningful for me, and have helped me explore new goals.

An important part of my journey was realizing that business is a means to an end.

Running a business shouldn't make us miserable.

Instead, it should serve the purpose of enhancing our lives.

A healthy business has healthy margins and should enable you to have a better life.

@AmandaMGoetz Yes! The curse of short-term thinking is why @merott built @PolarHabits.

I’ve been loving it. https://twitter.com/merott/status/1706685097582485857

Which lapel microphone is @AliAbdaal wearing here?

I see @adamwathan do this all the time: when he's stuck, he'll reach out to people in his network for advice/perspective.

The result? He gets unstuck faster.

Sometimes, getting someone else's perspective is all you need to get moving again.

Who remembers .arj files.

@KennethCassel @MostlyTechPod @ianlandsman @aarondfrancis While listening to the episode, I kept saying, "That sounds like a Seinfeld scene."

I downloaded the @MostlyTechPod YouTube video and transcribed it in @DescriptApp so I could search the transcription.

Then I started saving clips that sounded like Seinfeld (to me).

The hard…

@DanSchoonmaker @MostlyTechPod @ianlandsman @aarondfrancis 🤣🤣🤣 glad you liked it.

I'm just a huge podcast fan.

@ianlandsman Hahaha. I love it when you and @aarondfrancis get animated.

That "Yes Yes, No No" section kills me. 😆

@aarondfrancis Hahahaha. My pleasure.

I'm a huge fan!

@thethoughtcard Honestly: just a recommendation from someone I trust!

Many Prosumer purchases are aspirational, but many purchases also just fill a need.

Examples:

"I was sending my newsletter manually using Gmail, and it got too popular, so now I need a tool."

"I've been publishing my show on YouTube and I've grown a big audience, but I've been…

@aarondfrancis @ashugeo @jasonlbeggs THIS LOOKS SO DOPE!

Which CMS did you choose?

@shrutibalasa @FullStackEU @bramus @driesvints @freekmurze @tobias_petry @ruslansteiger It was so nice meeting you and your family!

Let’s do our next meetup in India!

Love the opening. Learned a new Belgian word: “goesting”

@adamwathan Sounds like 37signals was listening to this episode. 😉

https://once.com/

@earthlingworks Honestly, this is why I love “founder podcasts:” hearing what other founders are thinking about, struggling with, overcoming, etc

I've also added some of my favorite episodes from each podcast to this Spotify Playlist:

"Podcasts for Programmers"

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/56MveWZ4LcY4uXLtCp1HL3?si=05a635298df5488e

(Let me know if there are other episodes I should add!)

It’s fun to be around so many people who love podcasting as much as I do.

#pm23

Driving to Calgary (from #vernonbc) to try to catch my flight to Denver.

Just made it to Golden!

Idaho: what do I need to know about Zip’s?

@csallen 🎯 Elon is not playing “4d chess” with this branding decision; it’s just a bad move.

So much of the value of Twitter was the brand: Twitter logo, “Tweet” and “Retweet” were universally known.

If you replace Twitter icon with “X” on your site no one will recognize it. 🤦‍♂️

@stauffermatt @ItMeansFaith You two look amazing together. 🥰

If you're looking for inspiration for your company newsletter, check out @BitKidGames' email updates:

http://bitkidgames.com/sendy/w/29CnHeD6g0IIMnH2h7QE7g/Wf6SbWMXTDOrK892clIsKQiQ/fGxkg4zSawmpq1KdFqUbJQ

They write about what they're working on, the challenges they're facing, and share screenshots from work-in-progress.

I like the personal touch. 👍

I guess the takeaway here is that if you want people to care about the stuff you make, you need to:

a) make good stuff,
b) tell people about it,
c) show your enthusiasm.

Genuine enthusiasm is contagious.

✈️ Just booked:

🏔️ Denver in Aug (for @PodcastMovement)

🤠 Nashville in Sept (@TransistorFM team retreat)

🇧🇪 Belgium in Oct (for @FullStackEU)

@mattwensing Probably Stripe.

This is good advice. https://twitter.com/danielzarick/status/1681187412217827328

@arvidkahl @asmartbear @TransistorFM I care about this so much, that I answer a ton of tickets personally.

The CEO of Spotify, SoundCloud, etc isn’t answering customer support.

This is a key differentiator. Customer service almost always wins.

@tibo_maker I’m noticing way more porn spam.

Replies like this are in almost every thread that gets traction.

@jasonfried Yes!

THIS job at THIS company. 💯

To be clear: there are ways of mitigating some of the risks of entrepreneurship.

One is to bootstrap on the side (and keep your day job): https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1633956756496986112

@_lhermann @IndieHackers @lizmhermann @stagetimerio I just finished listening.

Inspiring to hear your energy and how you two are working towards your dream together. 🙌

I'm going to add more tools, strategies, and planning tips for remote team retreats here in our handbook if you're interested:

https://github.com/TransistorFM/handbook/blob/master/remote-team-reatreats.md

@abigailotwell Reminds me of this Ted Lasso clip as he’s leaving Europe:

“I’ve finally realized that air conditioning is a privilege, and not a right.”

😄

Thanks @Netlify, for making it easy to deploy fun projects to the web. ☝️

Caption this.

#WWDC23

@laravelphp Making progress. Took me a while to figure out why @tailwindcss styles weren't loading. 😅

@djrosent You should have invested it all in Sega!

Noticing a ton of bot followers with similar usernames.

I also like @asmartbear’s take on this: “You can have two ‘Big Things’ in your life, but not three.”

https://longform.asmartbear.com/two-big-things/

* design by @raspberrysarah ❤️

Someone pointed me to this; I’m going to try it out.

https://jaygeorge.co.uk/blog/designing-in-the-browser

Anyone else here on Wavelength?

I created a private group chat for bootstrappers to try it out:

#QK1uC5YUI0x3TtVWCXFbVg--" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://wavelength.app/invite/D9DCNRnwmEu#QK1uC5YUI0x3TtVWCXFbVg--

@ChanningAllen @csallen @IndieHackers 👏 congrats!

Excited for this new chapter. 💪

@thetafferboy I primarily use https://playgroundai.com/

It's interesting to read this @mgsiegler piece on the podcast industry three years later:

@mijustin/its-interesting-to-re-read-this-piece-three-years-later-8181d159039a" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://medium.com/@mijustin/its-interesting-to-re-read-this-piece-three-years-later-8181d159039a

AI generated microphones still look weird.

(Stable Diffusion 2.1)

@FullStackEU @TransistorFM Excited to meet everyone at this year's Full Stack EU! 🙌

If you're coming (or you've gone in the past), I'd love to get to know you better:

https://forms.reform.app/pF4xrZ/fullstack/qF4o4X

The main value prop, API, and underlying tech are all controlled by one entity ("Open"AI)

This represents a massive platform risk.

We've seen this story before: when indie devs built apps on top of Twitter, FB, etc...

That story didn't end well.

https://twitter.com/dfgentile/status/1641199595849134080

Ultimately, this landscape leaves fewer opportunities for small startups.

We're already seeing this dynamic play out:
https://twitter.com/IAmAaronYang/status/1639237798313054208

In reality, many consumers are happy to access ChatGPT directly, bypassing the need for intermediary products.

Typically, markets have a "main product" that captures most of the value in a category, and ChatGPT has emerged as the primary source of value in its domain.

Early bootstrapping successes, such as @37signals, triumphed because of the open web.

Built with Ruby on @rails, accessed through the web browser, and promoted through their blog, @basecamp carved out a thriving business despite competition from giants like Microsoft Project.

Historically, bootstrapped startups have been built on top of open protocols (such as email, the web, and RSS), open platforms (like WordPress), and open-source tools (including Ruby on Rails, Laravel, Vue, and Tailwind CSS).

You can listen to @adamwathan & @r00k's new podcast, Hackers Incorporated, and listen to this episode here:

https://hackersincorporated.com/episodes/revisiting-the-ideal-bootstrapped-business-with-jason-cohen

Your values and principles as founders are important, but you'll still need to build a product that sells.

Your company's "financial engine" is what helps your values to become more fully realized. Your profits can be invested in your team, their families, and your community.

@asmartbear I really like sales demos that are for retention:

“Hey Justin, you’ve been using the product for a while and I’ve noticed 2-3 ways you could improve your workflow.”

Worth the read. https://twitter.com/cwarzel/status/1636469422482415616

Here's how many visitors http://MyPodstudios.com has had so far.

About 34% of visitors have come from @Podnews – thanks for the mention today! 🙌

While the job market has recently gotten more competitive, "changing jobs" has historically been a good way to increase your pay (without having to acquire new skills).

@pewresearch:

https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2022/07/28/majority-of-u-s-workers-changing-jobs-are-seeing-real-wage-gains/

Didn't realize you can post code snippets inside a Mastodon post. That's pretty cool!

@knowler@sunny.garden/109949496861689448" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://elk.zone/mastodon.social/@knowler@sunny.garden/109949496861689448

"A recent 10-K filing showed more than 90 percent of its deposits were uninsured, and the FDIC says today that "At the time of closing, the amount of deposits in excess of the insurance limits was undetermined."

☝️ yikes.

https://www.theverge.com/2023/3/10/23634012/fdic-shut-down-silicon-valley-bank-startup-venture-capital-cash

Yikes. 😳

This used to be the default bank for all Stripe Atlas-incorporated companies. 😰

https://stripe.com/docs/atlas/payments-business-bank https://twitter.com/BortBuilds/status/1633954668882821120

"The biggest risk for bootstrappers is you're going to go broke or get broken.

If you can go and work at a high-salary job and build up some runway so that when you do quit your job, you'll have more money in the bank. It's the best way to increase your odds."

@CaseyNewton @ZoeSchiffer wtf

Best time to post a video? 🤔

We didn't have enough data on @TransistorFM's YouTube channel for this chart, but my personal YouTube + @TubeBuddy shows this:

My friend @JoshDoody has helped tons of my dev friends negotiate better salaries for themselves.

He’s just released a self-paced course and it’s really good.

If you’re looking for a raise, you should check it out:

https://fearlesssalarynegotiation.com/salary-negotiation-mastery/

@earthlingworks “Will people buy this?” has always felt too nebulous to me.

“Will people buy peanut butter?” Well, yes. But starting a new PB brand ain’t easy!

Will people buy WP hosting? Well, yes; the demand is there.

But you’re right: it really depends on how you sell it that matters.

@cgenco does your video clipper tool do something like this?

@iamdulma @tylertringas It's still new, but @blogstatic is filling that void for me.

$19/year for each blog you create (I've created 3-4 now).

(I moved a lot of these projects from Medium --> Tumblr --> now to Blogstatic)

Read my whole exploration of this in “the 80% principle:”

https://justinjackson.ca/the-principle-that-changed-my-life

@adamwathan YES PLEASE. 🙏